In recent years, magnetic materials have been used in electromagnetic wave absorbers, magnetic inks, and devices such as inductance devices, and have been gaining importance year by year in that field. On the other hand, the frequency bands used by devices involving magnetic materials have been becoming higher and higher in recent years. To cope with radio waves in such high frequency range, the energy loss and the transmission loss need to be small in each electronic component.
In view of that, fine particles of metals that are high-permeability magnetic materials have been considered for use as the magnetic materials. Such metal fine particles are mixed with a binder such as a resin, and are formed into a composite member to be used in a device. Metal fine particles sometimes adhere to one another when processed.